E.Z. Equestrian look to the stars after Parkfield Quintessential dazzles at Burghley

ZOE WILKINSON and Emma Owen, partners of E.Z. Equestrian, today reflected on the astonishing performance of stable star Parkfield Quintessential, who was crowned champion four-year-old at the Dubarry Burghley Young Horse Event Finals on Friday.

Parkfield Quintessential, homebred by the Bishop family who run Parkfield Breeding, is a son of Quicksilber out of a Capitol I mare. He went into the final round with a five-point lead and secured victory with maximum points in the final section to finish clear by seven points under burgeoning event rider Zoe. He finished with a final score of 89.0.

Parkfield Quintessential, nicknamed ‘Quinty’ at home, floated gracefully around the arena to score 27 out of 30 in his dressage test before he put in an extremely classy jumping round to earn 37 out of 40. A high conformation score of 15 out of 20 put him in pole position under Zoe and he demolished the field with a perfect ten out of ten in final stage, during which the top ten horses in the competition were judged on suitability and potential.

Zoe and Emma set up new business venture E.Z. Equestrian last year and the scintillating success of Parkfield Quintessential, known to everyone in the yard as ‘Mr Perfect’, is E.Z. Equestrian biggest victory to date.

The dynamic EZ duo set up the yard in tough financial times when the economy hit rock bottom and Parkfield Quintessential’s win gave the pair a memorable moment to savour following ten months of hard graft, supplemented by an undisputed will to succeed at the highest level.

Reflecting on Parkfield Quintessential’s breakthrough success, Emma said: “He takes everything in his stride and never seems overwhelmed so we were never worried that the atmosphere of such a big event would affect his performance.”

“At every stage of the training process, Quinty has always shone and we’ve always had the opinion he is a serious horse of the future. It was just amazing that everyone else agreed. Quinty is always happy, loves to learn and he is inquisitive about everything. He absolutely loves attention.”

“Our next goal with Quinty is to go and win the Lycetts British Eventing Four-Year-Old Championships, which he qualified for when he won his first event at the start of the season. The win means so much to E.Z. Equestrian. It hasn’t been an easy first year for us and a win like this makes every difficult moment worth it.”

Emma added: “We really hope and believe that this is just the start for E.Z. Equestrian and Zoe’s eventing career. We truly believe that Quinty is a star of the future and, as Sharon Bishop said, we hope to be back to win “big” Burghley one day!”

“We would like to thank Parkfield Breeding for the opportunity to produce and ride such a fantastic horse. We are so excited about what the future holds for the partnership of E.Z. Equestrian and Parkfield Breeding.”

E.Z. Equestrian is an emerging livery yard and Emma and Zoe said they hope to become one of the leading producers of quality event horses, which will be ridden in competitions and events by up-and-coming event rider Zoe, who was selected to be part of the European 2* GB Eventing Training Squad this year.

The success of Parkfield Quintessential provided owner and breeder Sharon Bishop with her first victory as an owner-breeder and she hopes to continue producing top-quality horses for E.Z. Equestrian under the banner of Parkfield Breeding.

Parkfield Quintessential, who as a foal was graded elite in both showjumping and dressage in the Baileys Horse Feeds/BEF Futurity Young Horse Evaluation series, is the first horse the Bishop’s have bred and Sharon said: “using our own well-bred showjumping mare and a quality stallion has paid off. Quinty is a lovely, tall and elegant horse and he is a nice person to train, too.”

“It is a great start for Parkfield Breeding and I hope our 2013 foals prove to be just as nice. It is great for British breeding to have a win in the BYEH four-year-old class with a horse that has come up through the ranks of the Futurity. These competitions really do give us breeders an opportunity to showcase what we can do here in the UK.”

“The whole team have had so much fun with Quinty. We are one big team and it means so much to us to have achieved this. Zoe and Emma have produced him from the start and have done an amazing job. If ever you need a boost to make up for the difficult times that all of us involved with horses know about, this is it.”

“I have to admit that I rather openly and publicly shed a tear or two – it was all a bit obvious and embarrassing in hindsight given that we were wearing our bright yellow t-shirts!”

E.Z. Equestrian clearly has a bright future and Parkfield Quintessential will spearhead the team in the months to come. Event rider Zoe is relishing the opportunity to prove herself on a national scale and she said: “We’ve always believed in Quinty’s ability to produce a top-class performance at Burghley but you never know quite what the judges are looking for. All the judges at the final marked him highly and it’s fantastic that they also see Quinty’s huge potential as an eventer.”

“Quinty heads to the Lycetts British Eventing Four-Year-Old Championships at the end of September. He’s capable of a great result so we’re aiming for the double. Friday’s victory is a huge boost to the whole yard. Our first year of business hasn’t gone as smoothly as planned for various and unforeseeable reasons but we’ve kept working really hard throughout so to pull off a victory like this is a huge deal for all of us.”

E.Z. Equestrian began trading in November 2011 and is based in Hatfield, Oxfordshire. Emma and Zoe train a huge variety of horses and ponies from the yard, which has 20 boxes, a newly surfaced ménage and lunge pen as well as access to two well-maintained gallops.

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